Liam was glad Mike refrained from telling her he only smoked when he was agitated and troubled. "Good thing you don't have to be concerned about lung cancer."
Mike's eyebrows shot up; he grinned as he took another long drag. "Yep."
"So who are the other three?"
"What?" Mike asked.
Sera lifted her eyes to Liam. "You said four others needed to be protected. Obviously, Mike is one, but who are the other three?"
Liam's hands tightened on her. They had never exposed themselves before. Mike's eyes focused on him and narrowed pointedly. Liam silently dared Mike to make any objection, but he didn't. Instead, he took another long drag of his cigarette and stubbed it out.
"You haven't met David. He's going to college in Pennsylvania," Liam said.
"And the other two?"
"Doug and Jack," Mike answered. Sera felt as if someone punched her, but she didn't say anything. "Look, you're obviously taking this rather well, but..."
"You don't trust me."
"No, I don't."
Sera bit her bottom lip as she lowered her eyes from his intense stare. Liam's arms were warm and secure around her. Liam trusted her, he would keep her safe, but she wasn't sure it would be enough. He said he couldn’t protect her from all of them. If they decided she was a threat, they would kill her, and Liam, to get to her.
She lifted her head to gaze at him. His eyes were turbulent, but the love in them was unmistakable. "Do you trust Liam?" she inquired.
Mike's eyes flickered toward Liam. "Well, yeah," he said hesitantly.
"Then you should trust the fact he trusts me."
Mike frowned thoughtfully. "I guess I should."
Sera dropped her head against Liam's chest and snuggled closer to him. He smiled as he met Mike's startled gaze. "Amazing," Mike mumbled.
Liam didn't have to ask what was amazing. He was holding it securely in his arms. The piercing ring of her phone caused them all to jump in surprise. Mike grabbed it off the desk and tossed it over to Liam. "Hello."
"Where is Sera?" Kathleen demanded loudly.
"She's right here; hold on," he said, handing the phone to her.
"Hello," she said.
"What is going on?"
"Nothing."
"Don't give me that! Something is going on. Liam came in last night and took Michelle out of the party, did you know that?"
"Yes, Kathleen," Sera replied tiredly. "I was in the car."
"Why?"
"We had a few things to straighten out, that's all."
"Oh, that's all! Really? There's more going on, and I want to know what it is."
"There is nothing else going on, Kathleen," she said firmly. "I wouldn't lie to you." Sera closed her eyes and took a deep breath as guilt washed through her. She was lying now, but there was no way she could tell Kathleen that. "I'd had it with all of Michelle's crap and decided to confront her on it. I knew she wouldn't leave the party with me, so Liam came to get her."
"Why did Liam want to know if I had said anything about Jacob?"
Sera closed her eyes as memories flowed over her. A fierce shiver racked her and almost caused her to drop the phone. Liam grabbed her shoulders and tried to take the phone from her. She shook her head, holding up a hand to ward him off. She had to deal with this sooner or later, and Kathleen would only become more adamant if Liam took the phone now.
"He called me," she managed to say.
"Oh, Sera, that must have been awful!" Kathleen cried. "Did Michelle tell him where you were?"
"Yes."
"Oh God, I swear I didn't say anything to her Sera. I swear it!"
"I know you didn't."
"How did she find out?"
"It's a long story, Kathleen. Can we talk about it later?"
"Oh, oh yeah." Sera could hear the unhappiness in her voice, but there was nothing she could do to ease it. "Um, Sera, the door to the room is broken. What if it was him? What if he came here? I should call campus security and—"
"No!" Sera nearly shouted.
"But what if he came here?"
"He didn't."
"Sera—"
"Kathleen please, there is nothing to worry about. Liam broke the door last night. I was so upset after Jacob called I accidentally locked myself out." She was normally a horrible liar, but suddenly they were pouring off her tongue as if she was accomplished at it. She’d never felt so awful before.
"Oh, okay. Well, that's good then. I'll just have maintenance come and fix it. Your sheets are gone too, but I guess I don't have to ask what happened to those if Liam was here," she added with a laugh.
Sera winced as she vividly recalled Jacob's body wrapped in those sheets. "No," she mumbled. "No, you don't."
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine," she answered tiredly. "I'll be back later today, okay?"
"Okay. If you need anything, call me."
"I will," she promised.
She hung the phone up and tossed it back to Mike. He placed it on the desk and turned to face her, a look of admiration on his face. "Well," Mike said. "It's good to know you think fast in a pinch."
Sera rubbed at her pounding temples. "I hate lying," she mumbled.
"You're going to have to get used to it." Liam and Sera glared at Mike. He held up his hands in surrender. "Well, you are!" he protested. "And trust me, it doesn't get any easier. Wait till people start to ask questions about what happened to Jacob. I just hope no one knew he was coming here or saw him."
Sera hadn't even begun to think about that. Her mind had been too overwrought with everything else going on to start wondering what would happen when Jacob was reported missing.
"I doubt he let anyone see him," Liam said. "He came here for a reason, and he wouldn't want anyone to be able to testify against him."
"But he might have told someone. He might have told Michelle," she whispered.
"No, he wouldn't."
Sera spun toward him. "You can't know that!"
He clasped hold of her hands. "No, I can't," he said. "But we also can't know
